THE property arm of the Blackburn billionaire Issa brothers' new bid to build three controversial industrial units on Hapton’s Burnley Bridge Business Park has been given planning permission to go ahead.

This latest proposal, aimed at creating more than 100 jobs, was approved by councillors on Thursday night.

The firm’s initial detailed plan for the commercial/warehouse buildings on nine acres of land at Titanium Park near Junction 9 of the M65 was rejected by councillors in June 2022.

Burnley Council’s development control committee over-rode planning officers’ advice and ruled that two of the units were too high.

Monte Blackburn Ltd, the property arm of EG Group founders Mohsin and Zuber Issa business empire which had purchased the site in Magnesium Way in October 2021 for millions of pounds, appealed the decision to the government’s planning inspectorate.

In January last year inspector M J Francis upheld the decision based on the warehouses’ impact on surrounding houses.

He highlighted the fact that two of them would exceed the maximum ridge height of seven metres for buildings on that part of the business park included in the Burnley Local Plan.

Opponents of the scheme led by Clare Hales, chair of the Burnley Bridge Action Group, were delighted with the appeal result.

Now Monte Blackburn's new application for the three units to Burnley Council reduces the maximum ridge height of all the buildings to below seven metres.

It also includes improvements to the nearby Padiham Greenway.

A planning officer’s report recommending councillors to approve the detailed scheme with 33 conditions was rubber stamped by Burnley Council’s development control committee.

This is despite an objection from the Burnley Bridge Action Group and eight similar letters from nearby residents.

They include concerns about noise, disturbance, impact on utilities and drainage, traffic and visual overshadowing.

The officer’s report says: “This application seeks to overcome the single reason for refusal by way of reducing the proposed maximum ridge height of units A and B to below seven metres.

“The application site forms the northern part of Burnley Bridge Business Park.

“With the exception of the application site, the business park is now fully developed.

“The stated benefits of the proposal are the delivery of modern units capable of providing business accommodation for a range of potential occupiers and result in the creation of circa 128 full-time equivalent positions and the provision of the bus link from Burnley through the site to the southern area of Padiham."

Alex Kenwright, Monte Blackburn's development director said after the decision: "We are obviously delighted and can now move on to the delivery phase."